Samsung has always taken pride in the Note brand as it was the first real phablet and ushered in a new generation of big phones. I remember when I purchased the Samsung Galaxy Note (first generation) and the laughs many of my friends and family had at my expense. Some of those same laughing faces now own large screen phones from the iPhone to Motorola and more. It’s no wonder that Samsung may just want to keep using the Note branding as it’s synonymous with big phones, but can the Note branding shake off the other thing it’s synonymous with? Exploding.
Speculation over the continued use of the Note branding stems from Samsung’s recent offer to South Korean Samsung users as reported by Reuters. Samsung is now offering users who exchanged their Note7 for an S7 device 50% off their future upgrade to the Note8.
In a statement on Monday, Samsung said customers who trade in their Note7 phone for either a flat-screen or curved-screen version of the Galaxy S7 can trade up for a Galaxy S8 or Note8 smartphone launching next year through an upgrade program. Users in the upgrade program will need to pay only half the price of a Galaxy S7 device, rather than the full amount, before exchanging to the S8 or the Note8, Samsung said. Samsung has stepped up marketing and promotion for its Galaxy S smartphones to try to make up for some of the lost sales. The Note7’s collapse is already costing Samsung $5.4 billion won in operating profit between the third quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2017.
With Samsung calling the next device the Note8, it’s a clear possibility they may indeed stick with the same branding. Of course, there are many internet opinions on the matter and we have our own as well. While the brand has strong ties to a revolution in smartphone sizes and the devices, in general, seem to have been pretty loved by millions, we just don’t think the branding can survive the bad press the Note7 has taken over these past months.
It’s great that Samsung is being optimistic, but it just might be time to let it go and move on from here. We’re pretty certain Samsung can build a great phone next year but it probably should carry a new name. But then again, we could be wrong and the average consumer may be more forgiving than we think.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
[button link=”http://www.reuters.com/article/us-samsung-elec-smartphones-idUSKCN12O0GP” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Reuters[/button]Last Updated on January 23, 2017.
